Ebony And Gold
by Soul-Winged Arrows
Summary: "I swear, I should've never rescued you, kiddo."


The suppression of his anger as each tremendous blow that made his body vociferate against not running only made the pain worse. But then again, it was like a symbol. Proof that he could stand it. He took more and more strikes each day, it wasn't like this was anything new. But then again, he couldn't help but wonder; was there ever going to be a single day where anybody stood up to these people? And what would they be like? Would they be kind and accept him for who he was, or would they simply do so out of the most obscure pity that they pulled from their heart? He shoved the thoughts aside as he remembered that the hero could only slay the dragon if he was actually there. And would the hero ever be there?

Probably not.

Song of the day: "Run Away With Me" - Drehz

 **CHAPTER 1: THE VICTIM**

* * *

Bullies weren't a thing of mystery to Tails. He wasn't a kid who would sit there and watch while an innocent child was assaulted by his own peers, he wouldn't point and laugh.

He'd be the one taking the hit.

Whether the torment was aimed directly at him or he simply got involved, one way or another, there would be ten more bruises to attend to by the end of the day. Even under his conditions, he was the most selfless little 4 year old you'd ever meet. Sure, he should've learned his lesson that one time he tried to stop a group of kids 9 years older than him from beating up an innocent girl when she didn't let one of them copy off of her test answers, which in turn got him a broken arm and being stuffed in a dumpster, but he was a resilient little kit. After all, he wouldn't be alive if he wasn't, would he?

It was more often than not that he went without so much as a hint of sympathy from strangers. The island he lived on was populated with people who hated him. He couldn't go anywhere without getting stares at best. Worst case scenario, he'd be forced to go to the next town in hopes of staying there long enough so that those who attacked him would forget about his existence. The dark alleys were a comfortable place to camp out when there weren't shady men in dark coats or gang members that would kill anyone who so much as looked at them weren't inhabiting them already. The fox couldn't count how many times he's had to make a daring getaway up a fire escape. He earned his nickname for a reason, and those were the two waving appendages found on his lower back.

Tails was, more or less, a mutant. He had been born with an unnatural set of, you guessed it, tails. His parents, upon his birth, were indifferent to the defect, however, and loved him just as much as they would if he had been a normal infant. Key word being "loved."

Long story short, they died from a mechanical invasion.

Enter Dr. Ivo Robotnik, or Eggman. Whichever name you prefer. A mastermind of evil schemes to take over the world for the sake of his robot empire. It's your stereotypical "I will dominate this land and make everyone my slaves," villain. His attack on the island that held a society that had never seen a day of combat to shambles of screaming Mobians. And in the midst of the chaos, Tails and his parents got caught in the crossfire. He was, fortunately, left unscathed.

His parents were not so lucky. They became a number, a statistic, of the amount of civilians who were killed by an extremist attack. It left Tails with the same amount of surviving odds as a homeless person. Which he became. But living your first portion of life in such a loving, nurturing environment, doesn't exactly help you when you're thrown into the world with absolutely nothing. So Tails was bewildered, helpless, and most of all brought down by the judgement of everyone around him. Kids, adults, men, women, it didn't matter. Like that one night that a teenager had peed on his face while the kit slept and his parents just watched, giggled even. Or the time that Tails had been walking down the beach and nearly drowned after he got caught by a wave and no one would go to his rescue, they just stared. That's how he learned to swim. Or the worst, and best moment of his life. When he got shoved off of a cliff, in a death drop towards spiked, deadly rocks. He remembered his namesakes spinning and spinning, not far off from mimicking a helicopter. And just as his nose was about to make impact with the sharp edge of a stalagmite, he noticed an unfamiliar spinning sensation.

That's when he learned to fly.

He used this technique as often as he needed after perfecting it, realizing how useful it was for transportation. That being said, he only allowed himself to use it when absolutely necessary. He knew that there was no way people would be impressed with his newfound skill, he'd just get shot down by some officer or anyone who owned a firearm, shouting "Freak! Freak!" all the while.

His physical being wasn't his greatest asset in his survival, though. Sure, it- they, were very handy and were vital, but his intellect was the thing that kept him alive. For a 4 year old, he was unnatural in terms of IQ. He rivaled college graduates in terms of raw mental abilities, and it only grew by the day. This led him on to becoming a prodigy with machinery. His dexterity with engineering was absolutely phenomenal. He built things day after day, and one day even tried to sell his gadgets, which was a colossal failure. But even then his drive went unwavered, and he simply shrugged it off and decided to build for himself. It was the second thing that nobody would be able to ever take from him, next to the thing that made him unique on the outside. Together, his two attributes became his greatest weapons.

But then again, it's not like they were getting him anywhere on this island.

* * *

 **Ay. Thought I might clarify some things in advance.**

 **Basically, the song of the day thing is a song that I recommend listening to while reading the chapter. This may or may not become an exclusive feature to this story.**

 **The first 3 chapters (including this one,) will simply be character introductions of our three… I guess we can call them heroes.**

 ***Insert 3rd detail here***

 **Kay, that's all I needed to say! Bye!**


End file.
